


no time like the present

by heybinnie



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: A character study of sorts, Gen, bin's had a hard time, idk this is just what i thought of i guess, rocky's a tru bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 02:38:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14369094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heybinnie/pseuds/heybinnie
Summary: bin might have a teeny, tiny fear that they're going to leave (him), but rocky's there to reassure him they won't.





	no time like the present

bin doesn’t like being called a wimp. he doesn’t think he’s a wimp at all, period, especially not when he’s been working out until his biceps are as big as mj’s dumb face.

so when he grumbles about having to make two-trips from the kitchen to bring over all the snacks, and mj comments that _two trips are for wimps,_ he frowns. it’s really a small thing, but he isn’t a wimp, dammit. _not with these guns._

that’s how he finds himself slipping two bags of chips under each bicep, biting down on the wrapper of his favourite ice cream and cradling six different drinks to his chest, just so he could prove a point to his stupid hyung.

he’s in the middle of carefully juggling all those goods in his arms as he makes his way back to the hall when—

“your nose is bigger than mine! you can fit a whole oreo in there.”

bin snorts around his ice cream. he looks up to see jinjin angrily shaking his fist at sanha like an old man, pulling a chorus of giggles and laughter from the others, and then suddenly there’s an overwhelming wave of _something_ crashing over bin so hard that he halts mid-step, ice cream slapping his chin.

because the sight before him is… well, not very impressive, since mj has just accidentally knocked over an open can of pringles. the rest of them sigh and complain, but they’re laughing and shaking their heads fondly as they help mj out, and bin feels his chest swell with warmth.

he’s thinking _it’s nice to have them around_ before he can stop himself. it sounds a little weird, but fact is his five best friends are there, huddled around a tiny table on the floor. they’re a close and warm presence that share these training rooms with him, people he knows won’t walk out the door.

he still thinks about it, sometimes. thinks about a time not too long ago, when he was a lanky, teenage boy working towards a dream even he was once a little uncertain of. he still thinks about every good and bad that came with practically growing up in fantagio, about everything he’s done and learned, about all the people he’s met and made friends with and had to say goodbye to…

that last bit was always hard. even if he had exchanged less than ten words with them, it had always been hard to see them leave.

 _i wonder how they’re doing,_ he muses, idly nibbling on the wrapper of his ice cream. not all of them stay in touch, after all. _hope they’re okay._

“bin-ah!” bin jerks back to real time at mj’s holler. “what the heck are you just standing there for? you look dumb.”

 _you’re dumb,_ he almost throws back, but thinks better of it. he’s not sure how he managed to reminisce nine whole years of his life in a single minute, but it leaves a bittersweet taste in his mouth—which is starting to hurt a little from biting on his ice cream too long.

he moves towards the group and leans down to drop everything onto the table. almost all of them snatch up their drinks greedily and praise bin for being a _manly, one-trip wonder,_ but he’s not really listening as he quietly takes a seat and starts unwrapping his ice cream.

he’s unaware of one particular member who has been watching him intently the entire time, without a single word, until he scoots closer to him.

“hey, hyung,” rocky says.

“hey.” bin nods to the last canned drink on the table. “that’s yours.”

“were you thinking about trainee days again?”

bin feels his brows shoot up his forehead. he looks at rocky, partly impressed and partly freaked out, and bites into his ice cream. “how the heck?”

“you always have this face when you think about it.”

“what the hell? what kind of face?”

“i dunno,” rocky shrugs. leave it to rocky to be vague— “it’s always kinda sad, though.”

bin snorts. he doesn’t say anything to that, and rocky doesn’t add on. they’re seated a little behind the others; there’s a re-run of a drama eunwoo was once on, and they’re all having a kick out of teasing him, making him blush and flail in embarrassment.

“aaaah, if you keep this up, i’ll just go be a full-time actor,” eunwoo huffs.

bin twitches.

“‘that so?” jinjin eyes eunwoo, brows raising. “you really think you can just pack up and leave?”

eunwoo laughs. “of course not, i was kidding,” he continues good-naturedly, smiling. “i wouldn’t want to leave. i’m happy here.”

and just like that, bin relaxes, listening idly as the table breaks out into snickers of _that’s so cheesy_ and _we’ll drag you back, anyway._ he bites off another chunk of his ice cream when something nags at him then; he turns his head to see rocky watching him again, face unreadable.

“wha?” bin says around a mouthful of vanilla. “i’m jus’ eating my ice cream.”

rocky hums. “is it good?”

“yeah. not sharing, though.”

rocky smiles a little. _typical_. “hyung.”

“hmm?”

“i don’t think any of us will leave any time soon,” rocky says, voice quiet under the hollers of the others. “don’t worry about it.”

bin side-eyes him for a while, face equally as blank as rocky’s just moments before, and thinks about it.

he thinks about all of them and all that they’re capable of and everything they could (have) become. they’re all talented in their own ways; bin is certain every single of one them could easily push out their own works of art, or make a name for themselves, or—heck, they can _act_ , too. eunwoo already kinda-sorta has half a foot through that door.

a very tiny part of him says they could easily leave. _after_ their contract ends, that is. it’d be hard, but they _could_ if they _wanted_ to, and that possibility is enough to make his insides squirm uncomfortably.

and then mj’s shouting _“you’ll never get rid of me, i worked my ass off for this place!”_ and sanha’s saying _“i can’t leave, or astro will crumble without my cute appeal”_ and jinjin’s claiming _“oh yeah? if i wasn’t here, you guys would be a disaster,”_ and eunwoo’s just trying to insist he was kidding, _can we drop the topic now?_

bin’s a little amazed that they’re all talking about the same thing separately, still somewhat on the same page. he’s thinking _they’re one heck of a team_ when rocky nudges him gently with a shoulder.

“i like where i am,” he says simply.

_not going anywhere, either._

bin takes a deep breath through his nose. he thinks about years of messing around and getting into trouble with his five best friends, of working themselves to the bone and passing out in training rooms, of days full of laughter and love and life and generally just being together, and breathes out slowly.

he thinks, _maybe much, much later…but not now,_ and decides it’s more than enough.

“yeah,” he says, nudging rocky back with a smile. “me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> heeeeeyyyyyyy hit me up folks im on [tumblr](https://www.heybinnie.tumblr.com) too!


End file.
